US hails talks with Taliban, denies troop withdrawal window
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The latest round of talks with the Taliban - now in their second week - has been "very productive," a U.S. negotiator said, and denied Washington sought a fixed deadline for the withdrawal of its estimated 14,000 troops from Afghanistan as part of a final peace deal in the 17-year-old war.
Negotiations picked up momentum after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, at the end of last month. He said then that Washington was hopeful of an agreement before September 1.
